|
|
The Beginning Stonecroft began for Alan and Glennice Limmer with a vision to grow high quality fruit and make modestly small volumes of high quality wine. Alan’s interest in wine started prematurely while still at school and produced a series of undrinkable fermentation experiments. The most successful could at least claim to run the lawn mower, albeit briefly. This latent potential at indigenous biochemistry finally revealed
itself after graduating with a Doctorate in Science. The academic background
included a major in both Earth Sciences and Chemistry. This harmonious
combination of academic training led to a move in 1980 to Hawkes Bay
to manage an analytical chemistry facility. This was strongly involved
in the local agricultural sector, including the ‘small’
wine industry. Like a moth to a light, Alan found himself in close contact
with the few wineries at the time – numbering about six.
The Battle The general locality was completely unknown for its viticultural potential, and within the community regarded as a wasteland. Consequently, Stonecroft had as neighbours, the local municipal rubbish dump, a Kart track, a drag race strip, a gravel quarry and an army firing range. Shortly after purchasing our land, the local council also attempted to provide us with an asphalt plant, and a car crushing industry. Interestingly, while both of these attempts were defeated, we were not without our own difficulties in pursuing our dream. The local council declined our initial request to erect a winery, based on the provision that ‘storage of organic waste’ in the vicinity was prohibited due to the free draining nature of the soils. Our wine to be was deemed by the wise bureaucrats as ‘organic waste’. That piece of wisdom was dispensed with via an appeal, and so the way was paved for wineries to establish in the area.
This was duly done, (1989) and the process began. Then the Council received an application from the adjacent gravel quarry to mine a large portion of this land for gravel. Until now all gravels had been extracted from the adjacent river system. There were commercial advantages to be had by by-passing this renewable resource, and utilizing the land as a source. This meant the destruction of a large portion of what we were in the process of re-zoning. Once again, the wise city fathers came to the fore, and chose to shelve my application, as it would have spelled the end to the quarry proposal. This was seen as unfair to the “Quarryites”. The scene was set for a mighty battle – a fight to the death. Some of the local vignerons, and neighbours rallied around, and the first round was won before the Council, with the quarry proposal denied. The way was clear to proceed with my re-zoning proposal for this unique land. But the “Quarryites” appealed to the highest court. Armed with experts and mountains of paper and dollars they prepared for battle. Even my own lawyer told me we could not succeed. You see, the zoning as it existed, could be interpreted as permitting the application – although no one had ever contemplated such a thing. This was the very zoning I was seeking to change. This proved to be the longest running battle in the history of this court. Mega dollars were spent by the appellant on the basis that this was a sure bet. Our only hope was to convince this court that the land was a unique resource of such importance to the wine industry its loss would be severe. A tough ask when it was still largely unknown – by the city fathers, and even most of the wine industry. For a decade, Stonecroft remained the only winery in this locality. The victory (1992) was stunning and complete, and set a new precedent
for the court. This land is now known as the Gimblett Gravels, and forms
one of the key viticultural localities for New Zealand. The rest is
history as they say. Investment poured into what is now some of the
most expensive viticultural land in the country and the area now boasts
several wineries and a raft of vineyard investments. In our own modest
way, we also expanded, purchasing another 15 acres nearby – which
we continue to plant. A day off at Stonecroft.
Finally, after relinquishing one job, and children growing bit, came trout fishing. Our area has an abundance of wilderness rivers, and a day spent there is never wasted. Then, after lurking in the subconscious for several decades, came motor racing. Starting with Karting ,which also involved our son, (remember I told you about the track), things progressed to the Beast below.
|
PLEASE CLICK BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
| HOME
|
NEWS
& VIEWS |
WINES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE |
MUSEUM CELLAR NOTES |
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER |
| ABOUT
US |
NEWSLETTER | HAWKE'S
BAY THE LAND |
SYRAH
|
RELATED LINKS |
|
S T O N E C R O F T W I N E S
Alan and Glen Limmer
Phone/Fax: +64 6 879-9610 |
 |